A Shift in the Classroom

Recently, all of the 5th grade teachers of my district were assembled for a professional development meeting.  There seemed to be about 60 of us.

Back in 2011, the state of Utah quit giving pensions to teachers.  All new hires were on their own to save for their retirement years.  I was curious what effect that would have on our profession.

I found out at this meeting.

One of our activities was about data collection.  As part of the activity, all of us needed to put on the chart how many years we had been teaching.  I was shocked at the results.

I always knew that Utah's change in policy would have an effect on the longevity of folks in the teaching profession, but I didn't think it would demonstrate itself this quickly.

I was the ONLY one in the 30+ category.

There was 1 in the 20+ category.  She is a friend of mine with 29 years and will retire next year.

Everyone else was in the 15 or less category.  Most between 1-5.

I am not dissing new teachers.  I had energy and enthusiasm in my 1-5 years that was amazing... but I had no idea what I was doing.

Not only are most folks in the profession now newbies... but more and more have no training prior to entering the classroom.  Yes, my first 5 years were raw, but I had student teaching, years of internships, and class after class of child learning development and psychology.

Many teachers are being dropped into classrooms today with NONE of that.  The standard for who can be in the classroom has dropped considerably.

To be clear, I am grateful for anyone who will step up.  If you are coming from a different path and are willing to enter the classroom... welcome!

But the combination of folks untrained for the classroom, along with a loss of veterans within the field does not bode well for the profession.

I try not to allow myself to fall into conspiratorial thinking, but I cannot help but think this is part of an overall plan to dismantle public education.

If that happens, I feel this will have dire consequences for our nation. 

The Grade-Level Model

"Expensive and experienced teachers tend to be resistant to new curriculum and teaching methods."

I was on a thread where someone was making the argument that older teachers simply weren't worth keeping around.

As to the expensive part.  Yeah, nowadays I am on the top of the pay scale.  I no longer have the financial stress that I was under for decades.  Starting teacher pay is LOW, and raising a family on it is crazy.  Besides, most professional pay STARTS at what an older teacher makes.  So, I find the first point to be overstated.

But on to the more important 2nd point.  It is not that older teachers are resistant; it's that we rarely see anything that is really new.  What we don't have is that excited puppy dog reaction to the latest whoop-de-doo the district and state switch us over to every few months.  We have a sense of history.  We know that the implementation of procedure or curriculum X has more to do with job security up the line than it does with producing results in the classroom.

It is hard to do something really new in an industry that has been around for 150 years.  Our system grew out of the industrial revolution and was based on a production line model.  It was a massive improvement in a time when K-12 was being taught by a single teacher.

Want new?  I say ditch the grade level system.  Everything in our present model is designed around teaching certain concepts at a certain age.  But kids aren't widgets.  We struggle to gain ground in our system because kids are massively different.  But we keep them all on the same track.

Each year I have 2nd graders who are spread out from Clifford the Big Red Dog to Harry Potter.  I have students who are bored to tears with 2nd grade math while others wrestle with single-digit addition.  I work in a relatively homogeneous school.  Most schools in America are dealing with much wider variances.  For many students in our schools, the grade-level model is moving way too fast or much too slow.  I contend that most of our behavior issues are a result of being in a placement that does not fit.

I get what it is like to be in a place where everthing is moving too fast.  I started theater about 20 years ago in a company that focused on musicals.  I didn't know I could sing and I loved it.  I actually got to do solos!

The problem is, musicals tend to involve choreography.  If physical dyslexia is a thing, I have it.  It takes eveything in me just to remember basic blocking.  Keeping up with dozens of people dancing in a musical number?  Ouch!  I remember during one live show turning left when I was supposed to go right and ending up in a completely different group.  The guy next to me mouthed, "What are you doing here?"  I sheepishly replied that I had no idea. 🙂

Over the years, I drifted into a company that had more straight play opportunities.  But that is the thing, as an adult I had options.  Students rarely do.

Too Many Cooks

Most school districts and states send down a fire hose of professional development.

Teachers are drowning in meetings, readings, data tracking, videos, and PowerPoint presentations.  And I think, from commentary I hear from teachers in other states and districts, that I deal with a fraction of what many are stacked with. 

At the start of the year, I usually have some ideas of new things I would like to try. But, invariably, all of my mental bandwidth gets sucked up into some "new" procedure or program. 

It is like you are trying to cook a turkey, but there are four other people in the kitchen who want to open the oven every 5 minutes to see if it is done.  When you tell them you have to leave the oven alone so that the turkey can cook, they heartily agree. But a few moments later, one of them gets nervous and has to open the oven again. 

There are way too many cooks in the educational kitchen.

Older Teachers

One of the hard parts of being an older teacher is to not come off as cynical.  This is difficult, because the system is set up to make you look that way.

Have you ever seen a plumbline?  It is a weight on a string. You can push it out, and it will swing back.  It can swing out anywhere in 360 degrees, but the string limits how far it will go.

The swing back and forth represents education's move from this program to that program.  For folks who have been in education less than 10 years, that swing to the 45-degree mark looks "new".  They want to give it a go, because the 100% success rate they have been longing for was not achieved in the "old" program.

This is when it is hard being an older teacher.  I have seen that swing occur three times already, but nothing positive comes from me saying that.

I remember my first staff meeting clearly.  A new program was being introduced.  The seasoned teacher beside me sighed.  She leaned over and told me this was not going to bring the results the district trumpeted.  I didn't think she might have a point; I thought, "Y'know if you are not willing to try anything new... maybe you should retire."  To me, it was a shiny new bobble!  To her, it was an old one that had been polished up.

After 34 years, I know a program... is a program.  Some are a little better, some a little worse, but none are a magic bullet.  There are too many variables.  The biggest variable is the student.

Some students have an aptitude for a subject.  They go over the math facts a few times and they are understood.  Locked and loaded.  Others struggle, but they (and/or their parents) are willing to put in the study and practice to be successful.

Then you have the third group.  They struggle... and they have little interest in putting in any effort.  For the teacher, this is like being in a three-legged race and the student lies on the ground... sometimes pulling in the opposite direction.

That isn't to say that such a student is doomed to failure in life.  They may have dozens of talents, aptitudes, and interests... they just don't fall into academic categories.  I have seen many of these kids go on to wildly successful lives.  Schools just tend to be obsessive about academics.

All that to say, as an older teacher, I just find myself smiling and nodding a lot.

We Don't "Got This"

Things changed about 25 years ago. 

During district meetings, if a teacher brought up how we should be involving the family, district folks and admin started to say -

"Well, we can't control that, so let's talk about what we can control."

It was a subtle, but tectonic shift.

On the face, there was a certain logic to it. We can't control what families do, this is true.

However, the practical upshot was that families started to interpret this as... "Don't worry about educating your child, we got this."

But we don't.  We don't got this.

Over the years, more and more kids arrived at school without foundational pieces in place.  Joey could read Dr. Seuss but Jimmy didn't even know his letters.  Sally has been read to nightly since infancy, but Sarah never experienced a book until she came to kindergarten.

Reading proficiency rates dropped like a rock through a wet paper bag.  Fingers were pointed every which way.  It was the whole-language debacle!  Phonics will fix this!  We need better instructional practices!

Every solution has been tried (repeatedly) except the most obvious one.  

America and its schools need to communicate to parents that their involvement is pivotal.  It is not optional and we will not be ok without it.

We don't "got this."  

Parents do.  

Until that is the reality we face, we will continue to rearrange chairs on the Titanic.

What Works In Education?

I remember a study I read in grad school about which teaching methods were the most successful with students. The conclusion? Whatever method the teacher was most excited about.

States and districts are all about the latest gimmick method. They see a teacher or a district have some success with method X... and now they want everyone to replicate it.

The reality is this: if I have some success with an approach, that doesn't mean it will work for anyone else. It probably won't even work very long for me. What is working presently is something that can't be defined on a spreadsheet or within a bullet point. It is a mix of chemistry, personality, and creativity... that works in THIS moment, with THIS class, and THIS teacher, in THIS setting. Look at it too closely... and it's gone

Experience vs Efficiency

In my classroom, the kids have weekly assigned jobs.  One of them is to pass out sanitizing wipes.  First thing after we come in the door, a student will grab the container and start putting wipes on each desk.

This week the task was assigned to “Joey” and he shows up late for school almost daily.  So, the job has been passed off to random students each day.  This has slowed our start each morning because it takes us a minute to realize it is not being done.

This morning as I was getting ready, I decided to pass out the wipes myself since “Joey” would probably not show up on time.  I noted how much faster I got it done… probably less than 30 seconds.  My students often take 5 minutes to accomplish this task.  They have trouble getting a wipe out, they drop the tub, they get distracted, they lose their place, they miss someone and an argument starts.

For a moment, I considered taking over this daily job.  It would save me time and, honestly, some stress.  But then I catch myself.  A major temptation I have to resist as a teacher is to do things for the students that they have the ability to do for themselves.  I have to regularly make peace with the reality that they will do a job slowly, messily, poorly.

I can add a lot of efficiency to my day by having students do very little.  If I do it for them, it gets done quick, clean, and without drama.  

But then they experience nothing.  

So, I remind myself – let them cut out the circles… badly.  Let them move the items… and knock half of them over.  Have them pass out the papers… and be painfully slow doing it.

Efficiency seems ideal in the moment but kids need the inefficiency of experience if they are going to grow.

Cleaning the Classroom

The psychology of this is fascinating to watch play out in a classroom.  Kids are very different.  

Out of twenty kids, I will have 4 actively working... at not picking up or putting away anything. 

Another 4 are spending their whole time monitoring and being upset that other people are not doing their share and they have to give me updates (which prevents them from cleaning).  

There are the 4 who always need to use the bathroom the moment we start cleaning.

There are 4 cleaning but resenting the hell out of the 12 who aren't doing anything.

And there are 4 who happily make our room a nicer place for everyone.

Teaching and Tacos

I often hear people say, "Kids are natural learners.  They are curious.  Just don't stand in their way!!"

Ummm, no.  SOME kids are natural learners.  Some are curious.  Others would just like to watch TV and eat tacos thank you very much.

I know this because if I only did what I WANTED to do... I would watch TV and eat tacos.

But, I have the self-discipline to know that path would make me obese and lonely... so I do other things and go to work.

Now, what is true is that most American classrooms are not meeting most kids' needs.  Some kids excel in academic disciplines.  They love bookwork.  They love to write.  They love to solve equations.

Others prefer movement.  They want to be outside.  They want to tear things, twist them, bend them, throw them.

Some folks love to be with people ALL DAY!  For others, an hour or two is MORE than enough.

Some kids have been reading voraciously since they were two.  They walk into 2nd grade on Harry Potter 4 and are starting to worry about what happens when they finish Deathly Hollows at the end of the month.

Others come in hoping that since they got through an entire Clifford book this week, they might be excused from reading for a while.

In our system, the Potter and the Clifford reader go to the same class because they have hit that magic age of 7.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen... your child's core curriculum for the year will be set, not by their motivation, not by their interest, not by their present level... but by how old they are.  

We just toss them all in together and wish those teachers the best of luck.  🙂

A Teaching Blind Spot

This meme has stirred up some dust on the teacher page I got it from.  Lots of teachers are chastizing this dad for "lazy parenting".  They say if parents would just "model" good reading practices at home, then kids would "learn to love reading" instead of seeing it as something they need to be paid for.  As one person said, "If they are read to from infancy they will learn enjoying a book is natural and just fun."

I do not think this blind spot is exclusive to teachers but I think the potential for harm is more prevalent because it is coming from teachers.

It is a common human error to believe that someone is "missing out" if they do not enjoy what we enjoy.  In this diverse world, there are LOTS of things to enjoy.  Some folks invest their time in sports, others in music, some like to climb mountains, many apply brush strokes to a canvas.  

Even those interests have varied levels of dedication.  Interests also change.  I enjoy acting in plays but I have friends who LIVE for theater.  My interest in acting was stronger a few years ago than it is now and it may circle back again.

Still... it is just one of many interests... as is reading.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, most teachers are recreational readers.  As such, there is a blindspot in the profession that often assumes there is something amiss if a child does not enjoy reading.  It makes my job easier if they enjoy it... but it should not be viewed as a problem if they don't.

Behaviors Are Not Age-Related

 

“When we adults think of children, there is a simple truth which we ignore: childhood is not a preparation for life. Childhood IS life. A child isn’t getting ready to live; a child is living. The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question, ‘What are you going to be?’ Courageous would be the youngster who, looking the adult squarely in the face, would say, ‘I’m not going to be anything; I already am."

Professor T. Ripaldi

I teach 2nd grade.  People often talk about "childish behavior".  For example,  I have students who care very deeply about their position in line.  They get aggrieved if folks "butt" them in line yet shrug it off when they do it to someone else.  Sometimes it gets so intense, tears or fists come out.  Although this kind of behavior can be broad-brushed to all children, only about a third behave this way.  Most of my students couldn't care less.

On the other end of the spectrum.  You will often hear people assume all "old folks" think in similar ways.  The comedian Bill Burr does a whole routine about this.  He questions why the family was surprised when Grandma said racist things. 

"They're old!  he jokes.  "What didja think they thought?"  

People often use old age to shrug off racism or homophobia... as if it is just part of being old.  Yet, we all know plenty of old folks who don't hold these attitudes.

I think, as the professor says above, people already are.  Little Johnny may move on from caring about who stands where in line, but that core pettiness will probably just transfer to other things.  Later in life, he may care deeply that he has a better car or house than the person behind him.

Behaviors are not age-related.  One of my students can nurse a grudge for weeks... while another has let an offense go by recess.  They will most likely become adults who carry those same traits. 

The thing is, if we become an old person that is STILL racist or STILL petty or STILL holds grudges, etc... then life passed us by and we didn't do the real work that needed to be done.

High Stakes Testing

A little thought about high stakes testing... especially for little kids -

I teach 2nd grade.  We are wrapping up state testing right now.  The work these students and I have done all year will come down to about 40 multiple-choice questions.

This is, of course, absurd.

Let me give one example.

I noted that one student of mine got a number of questions wrong on her math test today.

Distressingly for me, quite a few.  🙂

She will probably pull a "70ish" percent on this test.  The powers that be will wonder what was lacking in my instruction that caused her to score such.

Here is what they do not know about her.  She is actually one of my brightest students.  She is a leader.

But she processes out loud.

In class, she often gets to work in groups.  She talks through her thinking.  She often catches her mistakes when she is explaining her thinking to everyone else she is working with.  Her process becomes more clear to her as she bounces it off a classmate.

When testing, she gets none of that.  She sits quiet... clicking answers on a computer screen.  She is denied the engagement of her classmates.  Her initial inclinations, which would normally be processed in the group, are her only option.

In the real world, 15-20 years from now, she is going to shine like the sun!

But presently, our ranking system can only wonder at why she doesn't score higher on these tests.

Wormhole

This happens to me every day teaching 2nd grade.  Be it their math book, interactive remote, or box of crayons... it goes down like this -

Me: Ok, take out your math book, remote, and a pencil.

Student: Mr. Hackman someone took my remote.

Me:  Could you do me a favor and double-check?

Student: Nope, it's not here.

Me: Could someone sitting next to him check his desk, please?

Student 2:  Nope, it's not there.

Me:  You do realize, in a moment, I am going to walk over there and pull the remote out of the desk, right?

Student: It REALLY is not here.

I then walk over, reach in, and pull the remote out of the desk.  The students stare at me like I just accessed an extra-dimensional wormhole.

This is why I don't put a lot of stock into 2nd grade state-standardized tests.  🙂

Your People Know Their Jobs

I was rewatching Star Trek: The Motion Picture since they re-released it with upgrades on Paramount+.  Such a great movie.  One scene stuck out to me particularly.  The Enterprise has gone through a refit and Kirk has taken command away from its present captain.  Kirk is in a rush to get the ship out and wants to head to Warp speed.  Scotty and the former captain advise against it - more tests need to be run.  Kirk insists that they move forward on his command nevertheless.

Bones, ever the wise adviser, leans in and says quietly to Kirk, "Jim... you're pushing... your people know their jobs."

This reminds me of the state of American education.  There are few places in public education where people are trusted to "know their jobs."

I have it fairly easy.  I get a decent amount of control over my job.  The Utah legislature is forever overstepping, but we have a fair amount of local control.  The parents in my building are supportive.

I know that is not how it is around a lot of the country though.  I can't imagine what it is like in areas where the Q-Anon crowd is the norm.  Reading about the parents and legislatures in these areas, no wonder teachers are abandoning ship.  What would it be like to teach in an area where every legislator and parent is a Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz wannabe?

Teaching Is A Conservative Profession

"For a full century now, conservative politicians have attacked teachers to score easy political points. This, despite the fact that teachers, as a group, tend to consider themselves “moderate” (43 percent) or even “conservative” (27 percent), and their political views have long tended to match those of their local communities. Nevertheless, scare tactics about subversive teachers have been too tempting for politicians to resist. But although targeting teachers might score a short-term payoff at the ballot box, those attacks have always harmed public schools by driving teachers away."

--------------------

This article is an interesting history of political attacks on the teaching profession.  It is funny because, as the article states, the profession itself is fairly "conservative".  Regardless of a teacher's personal religious or political beliefs... they just want to get through the material for the day.  There is enough drama and excitement in a school without trying to create any more of it.

I will say that the present state of affairs is the worst I have seen in my 30 years.  Principals used to have stacks of resumes on their desks from would-be teachers.  Substitutes (mostly wannabe teachers) circled the buildings like vultures looking for an opening, hoping to make a good impression on the staff.

Now, there are no subs.  Principals have to beg and plead for a resume or two.  Universities are scaling back their teaching programs as student applications plummet.

Well, politicians... you have done it.  You used lies, exaggeration, and outliers to enrage the public and fill your campaign accounts.  Schools are holding on by a thread.

Now, what are you going to do?

Instruction Over Practice

I think one of the major failures of education over the past few decades has been an overemphasis on instruction.  Educational reformers have told teachers, school districts, legislators... anyone who would listen... that a student could become proficient at anything if they were "taught" it correctly.

Imagine a baseball team that avoided practice.  An orchestra that never rehearsed.  A military unit that never drilled.  An officer who has been instructed in firearms but rarely fires one.

What are you good at?  In most cases, it is the thing that you spent time practicing.  Instruction is wonderful, but it doesn't tend to go very far without time spent on the instructed task.

However, an expectation of practice puts some of the ownership on the one being instructed... and that doesn't work for our consumer economy.  No, the customer is always right.  In a student as consumer environment, all responsibility is put on the instructor.

Teachers are leaving the classroom in droves.  People always say we need to raise salaries to stop the hemorrhaging.  It may help a little, but pay for teachers has ALWAYS been on the low side.

I think what really changed was that all responsibility for the child's education moved to the teacher.  It used to be more of a partnership between home, teacher, and child, but now a child's success or lack thereof is resting with the teacher alone.

Joey practices.  Jimmy does not.  When Jimmy fails to advance, no one considers that perhaps it has something to do with his lack of time on task.  In today's schools, the teacher is saddled with extra paperwork and data meetings to try to adjust instruction in such a way that will allow Jimmy to be as proficient as Joey... but never require that Jimmy actually do anything.

Or, maybe, Jimmy really is working at it... but he still can't achieve Joey's level of proficiency. He just isn't as gifted in this area as Joey. Again, in this scenario, the teacher is still evaluated as coming up short.  According to the educational reformers, teachers should be able to move all students to equal ability... regardless of time on task or natural talent.

This is why so many teachers quit within the first 5 years now.  Being responsible to do a good job teaching is one thing.  Being responsible for every x-factor in a student's education is demoralizing.

Teacher Evaluations

Forbes recently published an article entitled "This Decade-Long Experiment In Teacher Evaluation Is An Unsurprising Failure".  The whole article is worth a read, but it can be summed up in this quote-

"a raft of research told us that test scores were hugely correlated to factors far beyond a teacher’s control. The effect is that a “good” teacher is one who’s been put in a classroom with high-scoring students, and a “bad” one is in a classroom with low-scoring students."

I experienced this first hand.  I spent 8 years in a Title One school before the ten in a wealthy neighborhood where I presently teach.  I could go on for pages describing the differences.  

If it were all about the teacher... as present evaluation methods assume... there should have been no change in "my" scores when I moved schools.  Student circumstance, ability, and predilections shouldn't matter.  However, unsurprisingly, "my" scores got a good boost when I switched schools.

I enjoyed teaching at my Title One school.  I knew a lot of amazing teachers there.  But none of them stayed.  It was not that teaching Title One kids was difficult... it was the score pressure.  My admin and our district support staff literally believed that the reason our school did not score as well as our district's wealthy East-side schools was due to the teachers.  As was stated by my admin and reading coach during a staff meeting where teachers were being blamed for low scores, "Backman students will start scoring like Bonneville students when Backman teachers start teaching like Bonneville teachers."

Well, after a few years of being browbeaten like that, I moved to one of our East-side schools.  Apparently, that was all I needed to do to become a "good" teacher.

Underlying all of this is a misguided notion that students can be instructed into proficiency.  Teachers are evaluated as if they are the only x-factor in student outcomes.  This approach has nearly ruined the teaching profession in America.  More troubling is that there is little will in our nation to change it.

Teaching is Spark

I have friends retiring from teaching this month.  I envy them.  I am still a few years away... but it is in sight.

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoy working with the kids and their families.  I enjoy the community environment of a school.

However, my heart sunk today as I learned of a bunch of new programs and tests the state is gearing up to have us implement starting next year.

A new string of meetings and paperwork.

It never ends.

The dog chasing its tail.

The education industry has many parallels to the diet industry.  There is ALWAYS some new program that we must drop everything to implement /go through endless trainings to prepare for /join in the collective illusion that THIS is going to be the cure.  Only to forget it 5 years later when we move on to the next bandwagon program.  

Like the diet industry, we move from program to program with no sense of history.  We ignore the trail of expensive solutions that didn't cure us of people who struggle with weight or students who struggle with academics.

Meanwhile, we gaslight teachers and the public into believing that the success or failure of the new program lies with the teacher.  One of the opening lines in the introduction to our new program was this:

"A well-educated teacher that implements research-based instruction is the greatest predictor of student success."

Gaslighting.  There are a number of predictors that kick in WAY before the teacher.  The greatest predictor is actually the zip code.

I can never decide if statements such as the line above are born of malevolence or ignorance.  Maybe a touch of both.

In all of these programs, one of the predictably missing pieces is any mention of student/family input. Somehow, in the education industry, we act like this is an ancillary point... but it is actually the pivotal one.

We know that a patient has to implement all of the doctor's instructions to get healthy.  A good coach is awesome to have, but the player has to commit to the training.  Could a musician become proficient going to an excellent instructor but refusing the nightly practice?

I had a reading specialist in our district years ago try to explain to me that it did not matter if a student practiced reading or not.  The student who read nightly and the student who never picked up a book should be able to reach the same high level of reading proficiency...  if I was doing my instruction properly.  She got angry and suggested I leave the profession when I told her I did not believe that.

This is the gaslighting going on in many school districts... and it is why so many are leaving the profession in frustration and fewer university students are pursuing teaching as a career.

Instruction is actually NOT the most important thing I do for reading at the 2nd-grade level - generating spark is.  IF I can help the child ignite their spark for reading, we can move them way beyond anything instruction alone can do.  

However, to generate spark, a teacher needs to have a spring in their step and a twinkle in their eye.  They need to feel a sense of color and art in what they do.

Sending teachers to more trainings, to learn to implement more tests and progams, drains the needed spark out of our profession.

Teachers Need To Set Boundaries

I am going on 30 years in the teaching profession.

If you make it this far you either:

A. Don't have a life outside your job

B. Have learned to set boundaries and let the rest go

I don't panic when the district or the state changes this or that, fails to fund or support their expectations, makes contradictory demands.

I put in X amount of time on my job.  I have learned over the years to use that time pretty efficiently.  However, when the district increases a time demand in one spot, I remove something else.  X does not increase.

That may sound callous but it isn't.  It is reasonable.

I know there are teachers who can't accept that... and they pile on the time.  They spend themselves to make it all work.

They also tend to leave the profession inside of 10 years or sidestep to another spot in education that does not require them to be in a classroom full-time.

If you truly enjoy the classroom and want to continue being a happy human, you have to learn to let some things go.

Brain Buzz

When I was a teen, I was part of a competitive Bible quiz league.  We had competitions locally and went to a few national tournaments around the country during the year.

Essentially, you would commit a book of the Bible to memory and be asked questions about it.  Not just any questions, the question had to come directly out of the scripture.  You would never hear a question like, "How many disciples did Jesus have?" because that did not come word for word out of the scripture. 

Instead, they would take a verse like John 11:17 "On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days." and pull a word or a phrase out and stick an interrogative in its place (they could add a helping verb if necessary).  So, a question might read: "Who had already been in the tomb for four days?" Answer?  Lazarus.  Three teams of three to four "quizzers" would compete over 20 such questions.

However, most competitors' level of memorization was so complete, they didn't wait for the full question to finish.  They would buzz in on just a few words of the question: "Who had al..." and hope from that bit of the question, they could figure out where the verse was in 21 chapters of John and answer inside the 30 seconds given from the initial buzz.  You could formulate a question and answer or quote the entire section to be called correct.  (There is a story to my question example that a few Detroit quizzers MAY remember).

Anyways, sometimes over a few days of competition, your brain kind of went to mush.  You spent so much time concentrating, that after it was all over, there was just a low buzz in your brain.  Unlike the usual scattered thoughts that crowd for space, after a quizzing tournament, there was a weird brain silence.

It has been decades since I have felt that phenomenon, but I recognized it today.  After a week of remote teaching, my brain was just on fire.  This week I spent so much time focusing.  Much of what I do in teaching nowadays is 2nd nature... but there was none of that this week.  Every detail had to have my attention.  I wasn't just thinking, I was concentrating.  Nothing was automatic, the whole week was on manual control.

I am really tired... but it was all strangely satisfying.  Not saying I want to do that all the time... but it was like seeing an old friend experiencing that brain buzz again today.